Monday, 25 February 2013

My hair story... in pictures

Back in University, I was constantly coloring, blowdrying and flat ironing my hair. This left my hair perpetually at a chin length bob

After frequent visits to the hair forums and blogs, I decided to try to grow my hair out, so I stopped coloring it, cut off the damaged ends and started taking better care of my hair. I started rollersetting instead of blow drying and flat ironing. Stopped using products with petrolatum and mineral oil. Combed and detangled my hair with extreme care. Started co washing, moisturizing and sealing my hair weekly.

6 months after I started my journey

Within 6 months of starting my journey, I had gone from chin length to shoulder length

Progress pic (April 2010)

Progress pic (April 2011)
In need of a trim

Progress pic (July 2011)

Progress pic (July 2011)

Progress pic (January 2012)

Comparison shot (April 2011 to January 2012)

Just like when trying to lose weight or achieve any other goal, it is important to monitor and track your progress. I made sure to track my progress. I took pictures of my hair monthly (I also made monthly update videos on youtube: my youtube channel). This helped me identify problems on time and make changes to my regimen to address them.

September 2012

My regimen at the time:

- Co wash my hair once a week with herbal essence's hello hydration shampoo and conditioner (I don't use these any more)

- Wear my hair in protective styles most of the time (Weaves, wigs and updos)

- Detangle with extreme care using a wide tooth comb and only after my hair has been well conditioned and moisturized

- Eat lots of protein (eggs and fish). I did take supplements on and off (solgars hair skin and nails) but I found it difficult to keep up. Also, it is recommended that you get nutrients from food rather than from supplements so I just tried to incorporate the nutrients that I needed into my diet.

- Retouch my roots using motions relaxer once every 3 months on average. However, I did have periods where I stretched my relaxer for as long as 8 months. I don't recommend this if you are not protective styling 99% of the time because of the amount of breakage you can sustain by merely combing your hair while stretching.

- Use jamaican black castor oil (jbco) on my scalp to stimulate growth. (Even though I stopped using this after a few weeks because it caused my scalp to itch. However, lots of people have had very good results with jbco).

You can watch the video on my hair regimen here (I am wearing one of my favorite protective styles in this video: a lace wig):

I hope this helps. I will be posting an updated list of products that I use as I am currently in the process of making some changes to my regimen in order to help me address the dryness and frequent tangling that I am currently experiencing. I found the hello hydration shampoo to be too harsh. It was leaving my hair stripped and dried out. I am also changing my conditioner as well to one that has no silicones as those can cause build up and dry out the hair.

Are there any products that you have used and would recommend? Or any products that you heard good reviews about? Let me know in the comments below...

Hi Bassey, am so happy to come by your blog. I have been doing alot of research recently on growing long hair for African women and i got so confused on what to use!! I school in Eastern Europe and the winter can be very unfriendly to hair growth. I went on low cut and hoped to regrow my hair to its former glory but have been struggling with it cos i have been at loss on what to do to aid its growth.My hair is about 6in now,relaxed and i will start using your suggestions today!! Thanks a million!!

Sure, you can. Just make sure you keep your hair moisturized. You can use a mix of vegetable glycerin and water to spray your hair weekly. Glycerin is a humectant and will draw moisture from the air into your hair keeping it moisturized for extended periods. Also, make sure the braids are not too tight and not too heavy especially around your edges. Finally, try not to leave it in for more than 2 months. Best of luck and happy growing.

hey. i noticed you haven't responded to commentshoping you arent one of those bloggers you just reads comments and moves on lollll

anyway on a serious note. I have been on my HHJ for a few months now and NO other blogger draws emphasis on proper combing the way you doyes they all mention it too but it seems you highlight it even more than the others and I thank you because for the 1st time I am actually going to be even more careful on proper tools and combing than I ever have before

one question how do u make you parting on ur lace closesure look so natural? do u put makeup on it?

1. I relax my hair myself! I had to resort to doing it myself because hair dressers were wrecking my hair. I am on the look out for a good hairdresser and once I find one, I'll let you know.2. I get products from all over Lagos: Medplus, casabella, park and shop, vanityoils.com, sizzling mommy.com to name a few3. Currently I am in between products, I used to use herbal essence hello hydration now I do the baking soda and acv rinses discussed in this post and sometimes use the Vo5 conditioner to help detangle my hair.4. I buy my lace wigs from a lady in Lagos. Her website is www.theweaveplace.comHTH

Lovely hair. My hair breaks ALL the time and I have itchy scalp too. I want to start paying more attention to my hair. So Pls tell us the right products to use and how to get the Jamaican black Castor oil (jbco)? Thanks. Anurika

Lovely hair. My hair breaks ALL the time and I have itchy scalp too. I want to start paying more attention to my hair. So Pls tell us the right products to use and how to get the Jamaican black Castor oil (jbco) in Lagos? Thanks. Anurika

Hey your hair is gorgeous! Just wondering, do you or have you ever had any issues with keeping your hair straight and flat? especially after washing? My hair is really full even though its relaxed and I find it so hard to resist straightening it with heat after I wash it to get that sleek look. any tips?

I just started this immense hair journey. I have long hair but keeping the length is the issue. I've decided to go heat-free, I relax myself, dco-wash weekly, and seal in moisture with water and olive oil every night. I can see improvement already on my terribly dry hair.

Matting your hair is good. Your hair is not protected and not being combed every day. For your weekly co washes, you can just wet your hair and apply conditioner on the ends. You know when you weave you matt your hair, the ends are like single braids so you can apply to those parts and then rinse out. Then when you remove the matting after a month like you said, make sure to deep condition your whole hair before putting it back in.

For products, you don't have to get the exact products that I mentioned and you don't have to use expensive products either. You can get a regular shampoo and instant conditioner for your co washes and a thick conditioner like cholesterol or hair mayo for your deep conditioner. You'll have to try out some of the things that are locally available and see what works for you.

Pls I do not understand d. Concept of co washing weekly. Ar u tryin to tell us dat is good to always wash our hair? Either natural or relaxed. Cos I tot it isn't good to wash hair always expecially wen its not low cut. Pls dearie, explain betta. Thanks.

Hey I love your blog. My hair tends to break a lot but I noticed that this got better when I did protein treatments once a weeks with a moisture treatment afterwards. Woud you recommend me carrying on with this regimen or only do protein treatments like once-twice a month?

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